Book review: The Nest

WITH one of the best opening lines for a book I’ve read in a long time, LA-based Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney plunges her readers into the chaotic lives of the Plumb family, which all revolve around the charismatic golden boy Leo.

After one thoughtless act of lust (drink-driving away from a family wedding with a young waitress in tow) which ends in disaster, Leo lands in rehab and his mother bails him out by using the family trust fund, the so-called Nest, which each grown-up child had a particular need for.

There’s gay antiques dealer Jack, who’s been secretly borrowing against his husband’s beach house to keep his business afloat, Melody, who wants to give her twin daughters the best education, and writer Beatrice, who’s desperately trying to finish her novel.

After the pacey beginning, D’Aprix Sweeney takes her foot off the gas, but she captures the ugly, personal side of capitalism and the dysfunctional family dynamics with aplomb.

The Nest

Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

The Borough Press, £12.99; ebook, £5.99